If Martial only scores 3 goals next season Ill be worried about him.
Mourinho not happy with transfer window - Exclusive interview with Ogden
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I expect mkhi to score more than 6 actually. He like mata knows how to chip in with goals and even in an inconsistent season , he got us 11 goals in all competition. Imagine him playing week in week out, I seriously see him reaching double digit in the league too.
Also, lukaku will score plenty. 24 seems to be a fair prediction but considering most of our play will be built around him, I expect him to bang some more.
Rashford has a very important season. He has to score goals. I expect him to reach 15 plus in all competition. A fair return if you ask me from a 19/20 year old.
Martial if given proper run and reaches 15/16 form , I can see him reaching double digit in the league. But I worry about his consistency and lack of trust by jose will be a barrier in him shining. I really want him to succeed but I have my doubts.
Rest have to chip in with their contribution. Mata will score surely. He somehow reaches the 10 goals mark in all competition. I do expect him to do that again. A very crucial player.
I expect some.goals from our defence. Sadly only smalling seems to find the back of the net and rest never even manage to come close. Lindelof hopefully chips in with some. Bailly I doubt.
Overall, we need to score more in the league. 70 should be bare minimum if we are to even challenge for the title.
Forgive me, but isn't it more about the ratio between how many you score versus how many you concede?
All very well banging in the goals, but if you ship a similar amount it's not going to get you much further forward. Not saying we don't need to score more, we do, just think those saying "we need to score x amount more to challenge...etc etc" is a pretty baseless argument to make.
All very well banging in the goals, but if you ship a similar amount it's not going to get you much further forward. Not saying we don't need to score more, we do, just think those saying "we need to score x amount more to challenge...etc etc" is a pretty baseless argument to make.
I think the unspoken assumption is that a Mourinho team will be pretty solid at the back. But yes, you are right of course, we need to also not concede goals.
True, but we're governed by the laws of profit and loss. City clearly aren't.
If City want to ramp up the spending the owner can pay for it through grossly over-inflated self-sponsorship, like the massive Etihad deal they did in 2015.
City have clearly done some good deals over recent years but four of the eight companies on their global partners list are UAE companies. The club's owner is a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family and the deputy prime minister of the UAE. He's got carte blanche to pay himself.
United's sponsorship deals may be crass but at least they're legitimate. City can bend the financial rules whenever they want.
Seems most people like myself have our front 6 scoring around 55 - 60 Premier League goals compared with 41 goals last season.
Given that we drew 15 times last season that extra 15-20 goals could easily translate into c. 20 points and have us challenging in my opinion.
Given that we drew 15 times last season that extra 15-20 goals could easily translate into c. 20 points and have us challenging in my opinion.
I'm really concerned about the DM position. It was screamingly obvious all season we needed a buffer for Pogba/Herrera, and an extra quality option in there and it's approaching the beginning of the season - and we're nowhere close to securing one.
Jose's trust in him comes from his consistency. Times and times he said he likes both Martial and Shaw. What he needs from them is consistent performances. If Martial starts delivering what his talent suggests he could do, then he will reach double digits and will be trusted by Jose.
Last season, iirc, we were the best defensive team. So should we keep such standards it will come down to how much we can improve the attack and GF tally.
I agree, but I think Jose has different plans. He trusted Herrera+Pogba last season and only added another body once that didn't work. I think he'll trust those two again.
Pogba hit the post/bar, something like 9 or 10 times last season. Surely some of them are going in this season. It could not be so much rotten luck.
i think the plan for this summer was always to buy Greizenan and Lukaku/MorattaSo unless we get another year like that, we need at least 20 more goals. Ignore Lukaku's goals as his are counted in the amount as a replacement for Zlatan. We need 20 more on top of what the others players in our team scored.
If we get another year like last year we need 30 more goals, because you would imagine Chelsea/City/Liverpool will score for fun again, as will Spurs. Don't even want to think about someone scoring over 100 goals. That is why I actually wanted two strikers because I cannot see that sort of production, even if we become a bit more clinical.
Thanks for finding the information out.
So I hope Griezmann is still a target or agreed. I just hope it isn't on the proviso of CL football. Not that I think we will fail to get it, but will disappointed if it doesn't happen and we miss out.
Matic is not on tour with Chelsea? I'm assuming he is definitely leaving in that case so. Either Juve or us, or is there someone else reportedly in the running?
Premier League goals 2017/18
Lukaku - 22
Rashford - 7
Martial - 7
Pogba - 8
Mata - 7
Mikhitatyan - 9
I dint think any of our forwards will hit double figures, I also think Lukaku will struggle slightly.
Lukaku - 22
Rashford - 7
Martial - 7
Pogba - 8
Mata - 7
Mikhitatyan - 9
I dint think any of our forwards will hit double figures, I also think Lukaku will struggle slightly.
That would be a stupid plan imho. We need 2 midfielders, a winger and a left.back.
We have 5 senior midfielders, one of whom is Fellaini, there is also a 35 year old Carrick and a youngster in his first season in the EPL. Let that sink in.
Wonder who they might be then?
feck it, that's good news. At least he is still actively trying to improve the squad. The wings is definitely Perisic though.
Does Jose speaking so specific about his targets make it a lot tougher to negotiate the deals.. I hope not.
If you need to fill a position/role in order to be competitive - you fill that position according to your means. It seems borderline absurd that United, with our resources, should be unable to land a single player who meets the general requirements in that regard.
In other words, I would conclude as follows if we don’t buy, say, a designated defensive midfielder: We don’t need that in order to be competitive.
No manager in absolute need of a DM will operate with a list of two names (or three, or even four). If Mourinho’s first choice is A and he can’t get him, we move on to B. And then C and so forth. If the need is there - in order for us to be competitive - it would, I repeat, be borderline absurd if a club with our resources couldn’t land anyone who’d be preferable to...nobody.
In other words, I would conclude as follows if we don’t buy, say, a designated defensive midfielder: We don’t need that in order to be competitive.
No manager in absolute need of a DM will operate with a list of two names (or three, or even four). If Mourinho’s first choice is A and he can’t get him, we move on to B. And then C and so forth. If the need is there - in order for us to be competitive - it would, I repeat, be borderline absurd if a club with our resources couldn’t land anyone who’d be preferable to...nobody.
Probably not. Chelsea and Inter will be well-aware of our intentions by now, and each seem to have named their price at £50m.
All quiet on our front, have a feeling this summer is going to come down to deadline day shenanigans.
Is it really wise him going out and blatantly stating our target positions, how is that going to help the man who he has been criticising to close any deals?
I love Jose but sometimes he's an arsehole and harms the cause.
I love Jose but sometimes he's an arsehole and harms the cause.
I'm pretty sure that the clubs we are taking to are already well aware what positions we are looking to strengthen.
Mourinho has spoken about training in a 3-5-2 system and using it as a possible option this season. He's said he can play Lukaku/Rashford together in and his comments about Zlatan potentially returning make me think he could be planning for him/Lukaku as a partnership at some point.
If he is planning on using the 3-5-2 this season then I can see why he'd prefer Perisic over other wingers with a higher offensive output. Beside his defensive workrate Perisic stays wide and is an excellent crosser of the ball, both essential qualities for wing backs.
Wouldn't surprise me to see us at times line up next season with:
-----------DDG
-----Lindelof-Bailly-Rojo
Val---------------------Per
----------Matic
----Herrera----Pogba
----Rashford/Lukaku
Can obviously change a few individuals but you get the point.
If he is planning on using the 3-5-2 this season then I can see why he'd prefer Perisic over other wingers with a higher offensive output. Beside his defensive workrate Perisic stays wide and is an excellent crosser of the ball, both essential qualities for wing backs.
Wouldn't surprise me to see us at times line up next season with:
-----------DDG
-----Lindelof-Bailly-Rojo
Val---------------------Per
----------Matic
----Herrera----Pogba
----Rashford/Lukaku
Can obviously change a few individuals but you get the point.
Wow, that's a very low standard you have set.
So, as long as he scores 4 goals, you'll find that acceptable?
For me, Martial needs to score regularly (around 8-10 league goals will suffice), to save his MUFC career. Anything less than that and he'll probably leave, namely because there seem to be many clubs interested in him.
The same goes for L.Shaw. This will probably be his final season with us. He is already out injured and won't be playing for a month into the season. So he is basically continuing his 4th season, just as the first 3 seasons panned out for him.
It's strange that our left flank has consistently been our most problematic. First Shaw. Then Memphis. Now, Martial, too.
I think this is likely too hence the lack of links to lightweight wide forward types instead of Perisic. I think a defensive mid and 3 centre backs is overkill though. More likely to see two CMs and a 10.
Spot on. A bit of common sense never hurts.
First off, the market has obviously gone mad. I'm not so sure any club was really prepared for what we are seeing.
Second, it is very reasonable to conclude that while we have our targets, and trust our management, scouting department, and staff, it doesn't follow that we should pay well over the odds for any player. There's plenty of time left. The Premier League is awarded when a team has an unassailable lead at the season, not before a football has been kicked in anger.
Finally, I wish this narrative that "players need time to gel in pre-season" could be cast into the flames. Did Martial need the whole pre-season to gel? Cantona? Robin van Persie? This is one of the absolute dumbest argument bandied about on here. Knicker wetters going on about how we have to "integrate" players in by some arbitrary date.
The club is run and managed by competent people, surrounded by competent people.
While the market has gone slightly mad, other clubs have bought players who would have been ideal for United, for small-ish fees. There are also still a number of wingers available that would do very well for United and for less than the 50 quoted for Perisic. If United don't buy two more players this summer, it would be down to a failure of the entire structure, including Woodward and Mourinho,
Doesn't look that bad tbh. It's preferable to lining up with Darmian/Blind as left back and Lingard on the right wing.
Looks worryingly short of creativity to me. Take Pogba out and you've got a strong, physical side with very little flair. We'd need to get Mata or Mkhi in there to provide some guile.
Yes.
People do obsess about this far too much.
It's generally a good thing for the manager to get his new players in early (obviously), but it's hardly essential, as innumerable examples prove. If the player fits , he fits. If the player's the shit, he's the shit. And if he's simply shit, ditto. Or a shit fit, ditto again.
Being available for a string of bollocks showcase matches isn't going to make much of a difference. Some managers prefer to have as many of their players available for such bollocks showcase matches - and that has to be considered, of course, if we're talking "ideal preparation" versus "not quite ideal". But you're not much of a football manager if you can't work an otherwise suitable player into your scheme just because he arrives after a certain date.
Some fans insist on absolutes, which is - to be diplomatic - funny, since football is anything but. There are few if any absolutes.
Football is usually an uncomplicated sort of lark when things work. And when they don't, they feckin' don't - regardless of whether you get your targets in before going on tour or not.
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Premier League goals 2017/18
Lukaku - 28
Rashford - 13
Martial - 12
Mikhitatyan - 9
Pogba - 8
Mata - 5
Lingard - 3
Herrera - 2
Others - 6
Lukaku - 28
Rashford - 13
Martial - 12
Mikhitatyan - 9
Pogba - 8
Mata - 5
Lingard - 3
Herrera - 2
Others - 6
Yes. If he scores 4 goals I'll be over the moon. That's exactly what I said.
Just get them fecking done. What's a few million to a club like United. After all Glazers sanctioned the likes of fecking Bebe.
Not to mention the Fellaini debacle. Last time we dithered and ended up overpaying anyway.
So just get it done.
Not to mention the Fellaini debacle. Last time we dithered and ended up overpaying anyway.
So just get it done.
Mourinho in the papers this morning talking down our chances of winning the league, complaining that United haven't kept up with the evolution of football, whatever the hell that means.
Doesn't seem to be much of a reaction on here unless I missed it. Van Gaal would've been crucified for saying the same thing.
How much has Mourinho spent since he arrived? £300m? A bit more? And he's been here a year. But he wants to keep moaning about the state he found us in? Reminds me of a Tory whining on about "the financial mess Labour left us with." Let's face it, he's just getting his excuses in early.
Doesn't seem to be much of a reaction on here unless I missed it. Van Gaal would've been crucified for saying the same thing.
How much has Mourinho spent since he arrived? £300m? A bit more? And he's been here a year. But he wants to keep moaning about the state he found us in? Reminds me of a Tory whining on about "the financial mess Labour left us with." Let's face it, he's just getting his excuses in early.
Haven't seen it so could you put a link up then instead of whining?
Ill stop whining if you stop whining about me whining.Haven't seen it so could you put a link up then instead of whining?
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...o-tottenham-major-premier-league-title-rivals
Just read it - doesn't seem too bad to me.
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